In Memory of Alexandra Johnson

This year has been truly rough. I could end this entry with that sentence but it might take a couple more posts to really explain that all to you. To start the story, I should introduce you to Alexandra Johnson (one of the most beautiful human beings) that I have ever met. She was everything that you could ever want in a friend, a co-worker, a student, a girl, a human being, period. She was kind. She was loyal. She was assertive. She was serious. She was funny. She was a “role model”. But let me stop with the one-liners. Let me give you the full story.

I had the pleasure of meeting “Alex” (as most people called her) during the spring of this year when I worked for a non-profit organization called Let’s Get Ready (google for reference, if you’d like). Let’s Get Ready relies on college students who serve the role of “coaches” by tutoring disadvantaged high school students for the SAT test which serves as one of the standardized tests for entry into college. So as the co-site director of one of the high school programs, I had to recruit these coaches. I’ll admit the process was hard as the coaches are not paid for their services. However, we were blessed with a great group of Northeastern students who wanted or needed to give back to the community. Alex met both of those qualifications. As, a student of color she knew the privilege associated with SAT coaching and how that plays into where people go to college. In addition, she also needed community service hours as she was a recipient of service-based scholarships. This combination made Alex one of the favorite coaches of the program. In fact, she was recognized as coach of the week on one occasion. I nominated her for the award due to her dedication to the program and her creativity in interacting with the students. But I don’t want to bore you with the details. Yesterday, I found a clip of one of the raps she helped a student write when she was coaching him on his SAT vocabulary (if you know the SAT, you know the vocabulary is challenging). To show you just how ingenious she was, please watch the video using the link below (sorry I don’t have the premium version of wordpress to embed videos).

If you’re impressed, that’s not even the half of it. I learned a lot about Alex in the short amount that I got to know her. I don’t know if she would have considered me a friend as I was her supervisor but rest assured, she made a great impact on my life. So, Alex, if you’re listening up there in heaven, just know that you have a friend in me. I hope to see you again someday. Continue resting in peace. Northeastern misses you. I miss you. I’ll try to keep helping others as you dutifully tried to do every single day of our interactions. ❤ ❤

NB: I didn’t include pictures of her because I do not have permission from her family. If anyone knows her family and would like to ask for me, please do so.Permission has now been obtained from her family.